Imported Debian version 2.4.3~trusty1
[deb_ffmpeg.git] / ffmpeg / LICENSE.md
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1#FFmpeg:
2
3Most files in FFmpeg are under the GNU Lesser General Public License version 2.1
4or later (LGPL v2.1+). Read the file COPYING.LGPLv2.1 for details. Some other
5files have MIT/X11/BSD-style licenses. In combination the LGPL v2.1+ applies to
6FFmpeg.
7
8Some optional parts of FFmpeg are licensed under the GNU General Public License
9version 2 or later (GPL v2+). See the file COPYING.GPLv2 for details. None of
10these parts are used by default, you have to explicitly pass --enable-gpl to
11configure to activate them. In this case, FFmpeg's license changes to GPL v2+.
12
13Specifically, the GPL parts of FFmpeg are:
14
15- libpostproc
16- libmpcodecs
17- optional x86 optimizations in the files
18 libavcodec/x86/flac_dsp_gpl.asm
19 libavcodec/x86/idct_mmx.c
20- libutvideo encoding/decoding wrappers in
21 libavcodec/libutvideo*.cpp
22- the X11 grabber in libavdevice/x11grab.c
23- the swresample test app in
24 libswresample/swresample-test.c
25- the texi2pod.pl tool
26- the following filters in libavfilter:
27 - f_ebur128.c
28 - vf_blackframe.c
29 - vf_boxblur.c
30 - vf_colormatrix.c
31 - vf_cropdetect.c
32 - vf_decimate.c
33 - vf_delogo.c
34 - vf_geq.c
35 - vf_histeq.c
36 - vf_hqdn3d.c
37 - vf_interlace.c
38 - vf_kerndeint.c
39 - vf_mcdeint.c
40 - vf_mp.c
41 - vf_owdenoise.c
42 - vf_perspective.c
43 - vf_phase.c
44 - vf_pp.c
45 - vf_pullup.c
46 - vf_sab.c
47 - vf_smartblur.c
48 - vf_spp.c
49 - vf_stereo3d.c
50 - vf_super2xsai.c
51 - vf_tinterlace.c
52 - vsrc_mptestsrc.c
53
54Should you, for whatever reason, prefer to use version 3 of the (L)GPL, then
55the configure parameter --enable-version3 will activate this licensing option
56for you. Read the file COPYING.LGPLv3 or, if you have enabled GPL parts,
57COPYING.GPLv3 to learn the exact legal terms that apply in this case.
58
59There are a handful of files under other licensing terms, namely:
60
61* The files libavcodec/jfdctfst.c, libavcodec/jfdctint_template.c and
62 libavcodec/jrevdct.c are taken from libjpeg, see the top of the files for
63 licensing details. Specifically note that you must credit the IJG in the
64 documentation accompanying your program if you only distribute executables.
65 You must also indicate any changes including additions and deletions to
66 those three files in the documentation.
67
68
69external libraries
70==================
71
72FFmpeg can be combined with a number of external libraries, which sometimes
73affect the licensing of binaries resulting from the combination.
74
75compatible libraries
76--------------------
77
78The following libraries are under GPL:
79 - frei0r
80 - libcdio
81 - libutvideo
82 - libvidstab
83 - libx264
84 - libx265
85 - libxavs
86 - libxvid
87When combining them with FFmpeg, FFmpeg needs to be licensed as GPL as well by
88passing --enable-gpl to configure.
89
90The OpenCORE and VisualOn libraries are under the Apache License 2.0. That
91license is incompatible with the LGPL v2.1 and the GPL v2, but not with
92version 3 of those licenses. So to combine these libraries with FFmpeg, the
93license version needs to be upgraded by passing --enable-version3 to configure.
94
95incompatible libraries
96----------------------
97
98The Fraunhofer AAC library, FAAC and aacplus are under licenses which
99are incompatible with the GPLv2 and v3. We do not know for certain if their
100licenses are compatible with the LGPL.
101If you wish to enable these libraries, pass --enable-nonfree to configure.
102But note that if you enable any of these libraries the resulting binary will
103be under a complex license mix that is more restrictive than the LGPL and that
104may result in additional obligations. It is possible that these
105restrictions cause the resulting binary to be unredistributeable.